[QUOTE][/How is it that an airport such as Frankfurt which handles an immense number of airplanes in often sub-par weather, can be so much more professional and efficient than let's say, San Francisco....even on a clear day
The answer has more to do with airport geometry than atc abilities. San Francsco's parrallel runway pairs are too closely located to run simultaneous operations unless aircraft are put on visual approaches. As an ATCO it is MUCH easier and more efficient to run prarallel ils approaches to widely spaced runways. Also FRA airport geometry does not have intersecting runways so departures are merely separated from each other vs having to space them with arrival traffic.
Fleet mix and scheduling also play tremendous amoount to efficiency. I would add that the proximty of OAK to SFO probably affects its a ability to use dispersal headings on deaprtures which would greatly improve efficiency assuming there was no conflicting arrival traffic, which ther always is.
Efficiency gains are complex and to assume that US airline industry would leave them on the table is niave. Nowadays airlines make runway decisions based solely on efficiency and as long as the weather parameters do not exceed the op specs of the aircraft that is what is expected of the ATC system.